'You have to die in Piedmont!' An old folk song, still played in the western Alps, tells of the French regiments that were coming from the Mongeneve Pass in order to attack a combined Austro-Sardinian force entrenched on the Assietta Plateau, 2,500 meters up in the Cottian Alps. This crucial position controlled two main roads from France to the Kingdom of Sardinia's capital, Turin. The battle occurred on 19 June 1747, and was the bloodiest single day action not only of the War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748) in Italy, but in the whole military history of the Alps.
The strategic goal of the French offensive was the siege and the capture of the Fort of Exilles, in the Susa Valley on the road from Brian
